Objective: To describe the effect of artisanal formulations of CBDo in a retrospective case series of patients with a variable spectrum of movement disorders, who spontaneously reported a CBDo consumption as adjuvant treatment assisted from June 2016 to March 2018 at our center in Buenos Aires City, Argentina.

Background: Although quality, safety and efficacy data regarding artisanal formulations of cannabis oil are minimal and anecdotal, there is an increased use in patients with movement disorders. Health care providers are concerned about the effect of illegal or non standardized manufacturing of cannabis oil (CBDo), given that its use is increasing in Argentina, after the first law enactment on medical use of the cannabis plant. A recent systematic review of the effectiveness of medical cannabis in movement disoders done by Lim et al, showed that there was no clear benefit in prescribing standardized formulations of CBDo.

Methods: Between June 2016 and March 2018, we analyzed the medical records of patients with movement disorders, ≥ 21 years old, who reported the self- administration of: smoked marijuana (30), cannabis tincture (1), and cannabis oil (2). Demographic data, comorbidities and clinical characteristics were analyzed, including, cannabis preparations, subjective assessment of motor and nonmotor symptoms and side effects.

Results: 33 patients, mean age of years 62.47(SD +13.96), 23 men (69.7%) composed the sample. The most frequent diagnosis was Parkinson disease (PD) (N=23) and secondly dystonia(N=4). The median duration of PD was 5 years (range 0,4-32). The median duration of CBDo treatment was 30 days (range 1-365). All cases received NS/P-MP. Non clinical improvement was reported in 84,84% (N=28), while clinical subjective and transient improvement occurred in 12,12% (N=4). The most frequent side effect was sedation (N=6). Lastly, Twenty-four patients (82, 76%) decided to stop taking CBDo.

Conclusions: As in previous series, we observed controversial and transient effects of CBDo in our population with movement disorders. We acknowledge the limitations of this study. However, our observation highlight the potential risk of patients exposed to artisanal formulations of CBDo and the need for randomized controlled trials of CBDo and health system surveillance.

References: Lim K, See YM, Lee J. A systematic review of the effectiveness of medical Cannabis for psychiatric, movement and neurodegenerative disorders. Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience 2017;15:301-312.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/artisanal-formulations-of-cannabis-in-movement-disorders-the-real-life-perspective-in-a-population-from-buenos-aires-argentina-preliminary-report/